Chapter 12 “ Homecoming
The Burrow, Harry’s favourite house in the world, was completely destroyed.
“Oh my God,” Ron repeated, horrified. “Oh my God!”
He and Harry ran over to the wreckage. The house no longer resembled any form of a building. It could have passed for a large, smouldering pile of sand. Together they tried to sift around, looking for anything they could salvage. There were a few melted and deformed pots, the remains of an oven, and the old Weasley clock. This was the only treasured item that remained intact. Each of the Weasleys’ hands were still pointed to ‘Mortal Peril,’ except for Ginny’s whose was pointing to ‘At School.’ In the backyard, there were chickens squawking around in terror, trapped in their cages. Harry walked over to the pen and unlocked it. The chickens scrambled over each other in a hurry to leave the scene of destruction.
“They were looking for us!” Harry said shakily. If Death Eaters were after the Weasleys, Harry knew that he’d have to speed up his mission of defeating Voldemort.
“No, mate,” Ron said, shaking his head, “I think they’re looking for you.”
~*~
Harry and Ron (clutching the Weasley clock) Apparated fifteen minutes later, after making sure they had saved all that they could.
“What on EARTH took you so long? Why are you so filthy? What “ What’s wrong?” Mrs. Weasley bustled over to them, wrenching the clock away from Ron.
“Why did you take this?”
“Mum, the house…it’s been destroyed,” Ron said in barely a whisper.
Mrs. Weasley covered her mouth with her hands. Mr. Weasley stood up trembling, and Charlie and Bill nearly tripped over their chairs in their haste to Apparate. Once they left, Ron began to tell the room about what they saw. Harry decided that he had no choice but to tell them about Ginny’s mistake now.
“Mrs. Weasley,” he started, slightly nervous, “I should have told you before. In Ginny’s last letter, she told me that… well, it’s hard to explain “ I’ll go get the letter; you can see for yourself.”
He dashed upstairs before anyone could ask him to explain himself. He hoped they understood what it meant as much as he did, and he was suddenly stricken with worry. Was this why they destroyed the Burrow? Were they in danger?
He stuck his hand inside the pillowcase where he kept all his letters safe. He hastily rummaged through the pile until he found the parchment dated October thirtieth. Ginny’s handwriting glistened up at him in emerald green ink. Without really remembering how, Harry found himself downstairs in a matter of seconds. He handed over the letter to Mrs. Weasley and waited tentatively for her to finish reading. Her eyes grew wide as they scurried down the parchment. Once she finished reading the note, she folded it up neatly and placed it on the table.
“Well, Harry,” she started rather calmly, “you are right to believe that Ginny telling her classmate was a risky decision. If she said the whole school knows about you two, I’m afraid she may be in great danger.”
~*~
By the following day, everyone in the house had read Ginny’s letter and was contemplating its meaning. Nobody doubted that it was the reason the Death Eaters had visited the Burrow. Surely Draco Malfoy must have mentioned something to his new friends about how Harry visited his favourite family as often as he could. Mr. Weasley was in shock. He still couldn’t believe that the home he had worked so hard to build was destroyed and was even more unnerved that his whole family could have just as easily been in it. Mrs. Weasley had pulled them out of there just in time. Bill, Charlie, and Mr. Weasley had visited the Burrow that morning to see if anything else could be saved. They had returned empty handed.
After a very subdued lunch, Harry quietly escaped to his and Ron’s bedroom. Ron had stayed downstairs to talk to Fred and George about new joke shop products.
Harry sat on the very edge of his bed and rubbed his scar. Why was it prickling again?
Suddenly, he felt like knives were penetrating his skull. He was torn between crying and immense anger. He fell right off the bed and was writhing on the floor screaming in rage. Just as quickly as it had come, the feeling was gone. He lay on the floor, inexplicable tears streaming down his face. And somehow he knew. Just like two years ago. Voldemort had let down his guard. Harry had gotten into his mind again. Nagini was dead. Nagini, the Horcrux, was no longer. He did not know how, but he was sure it was true. Voldemort would have to move the Horcrux, or make a new one.
Rubbing his scar, Harry walked over to the empty picture frame.
“Phineas?” he asked quietly. There was a low grumbling sound emitting from the least popular headmaster. Harry took this as a sign that he was listening.
“Could you please get Professor Dumbledore for me?” More grumbles, and then Dumbledore walked into the frame munching on a Cauldron Cake. His cloak showed evidence of a jelly donut.
“Nagini is dead,” Harry said without preamble. Dumbledore dropped his pastry and grinned.
“This is good news, Harry,” he said, and seeing the confused look on Harry’s face, Dumbledore continued.
“Even though Voldemort is obviously quite angry about the death of his pet snake, I very much doubt that he will take all that time to find another trophy for a Horcrux. He still does not believe that anyone knows about the Horcruxes. Pretty foolish, since both you and Regulus have already found them.”
He winked and said cheerfully, “You know what this means, don’t you, Harry?”
“There are only three more Horcruxes,” Harry said, also smiling.
“That’s right,” he said, sounding serious again. “And we should really get moving on this.”
He walked out of the frame for a moment and returned carrying a wooden rocking chair. He sat down and took out some parchment and a quill.
Harry couldn’t resist asking.
“What was death like?”
Dumbledore chuckled.
“I was surprised that no one had asked.” He repositioned himself on the chair. “Death was nothing special. It was like falling asleep. It is quite peaceful. There is no worry, no fear, no hunger, no pain. But back to the subject of Horcruxes, Harry,” he said, dipping his quill into the ink.
“So now there are three. A locket… Hufflepuff’s cup… and one more unknown.”
~*~
Half an hour and three Pensieve trips later, Harry and Dumbledore had gotten nowhere. Dumbledore was looking increasingly anxious.
“I just wish we had destroyed that locket,” he sighed.
And it clicked in Harry’s head; how could he have been so stupid. He had forgotten “ he should have mentioned it right away. He opened his mouth to speak just as Mrs. Weasley hustled into the room.
“Harry, could I use Hedwig? It’s urgent!” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Sorry, Mrs. Weasley,” he responded, losing his train of thought. “I sent her to Ginny yesterday.”
“Oh no,” she cried. Harry felt unnerved to see her like this. “I need to send an owl to Ginny “ I need her to come home straight away!”
Harry got to his feet.
“Why, what happened? Is she alright?”
“Arthur went into work and Mr. Brown apparently mentioned to him about you and Ginny. It’s too dangerous. I want her home now!” Mrs. Weasley gasped for air.
“Lavender Brown’s father?” Harry asked, slightly confused.
“Yes! And if he knows, who knows who else knows… I mean… oh, I don’t know. I don’t want You-Know-Who to get her as a lure for you!” She looked very unsteady. Harry conjured up a chair just as Mrs. Weasley fell backwards into it crying.
“Molly!” Dumbledore said over her tears. Mrs. Weasley jumped. She hadn’t noticed him in the frame.
“I will send someone to get her,” he said quickly and disappeared into the headmaster’s office.
Mrs. Weasley was still sniffling quietly, rocking back and forth. Harry thought he should say something to her, but he couldn’t think what.
Dumbledore reappeared, his brow furrowed.
“Minerva has gone to find her, and the staff is on the lookout. She will come to Minerva’s office, and Ginny will use the Floo Network to get back to Grimmauld Place.”
Mrs. Weasley slumped down in her chair, gazing at the wall. Dumbledore was examining his nails, and Harry was worried about his girlfriend. Dumbledore looked suddenly alert and left his frame again. They could hear him telling Ginny to use Floo Powder to go home. Dumbledore returned to Harry’s room once again with the news that Ginny was coming home.